LIFE - SAVING APPLIANCES.
Captains of vessels should exercise their crews frequently in lower ing and hoisting the life-boats during fair and rough weather, assign ing each man a certain place with certain duties. By this means each man will become familiar with his special duty, and when the time of peril comes, will be enabled to perform it without excitement, thus, in a great measure, preventing what is known as a panic launch.
The coolness of officers and men in such cases adds materially to the preservation of There are numerous life-saving appliances, such as cork life pre servers, ringThuoys, etc., etc. These should always be kept in con venient places, easy of-access to passengers and crew.
The proper method of fastening on a life preserver is to see that the shoulder straps are crossed over the shoulders tightly, while the strings are securely tied.
In the case of ladies and young or old people, life preservers should be secured to the person by some one thoroughly reliable, if possible. Put the life preservers on like a vest, cross the shoulder straps like a pair of braces, and then fasten the strings in front firmly.
• Harbor Boards, and owners of wharfs should also amply provide against accidents by always having, as handy as possible, such appli ances as prudence will dictate may be required, more especially in places where crowds of persons are likely to be expected ; under such circumstances the greatest care should be exercised, and it is highly expedient that only experienced men should be employed around ex cursion boats and docks. An awkward man, not up to his work, may
innocently do great harm.
It would be very useful to festoon' a chain around all docks, so that a person falling into the water might have something to cling to until assistance arrived.
September 15th, 1881.—The writer exhibited a peculiar life-sav ing invention which Alderman Boswell, of Toronto, brought with him from England. It consisted of a chemical preparation enclosed in a tinfoil case, put in linen pockets inserted in the breast of a lady's dress or a gentleman's coat, covered with rubber, except at the bottom, to prevent water .descending or touching it, when caught in rain or otherwise exposed to wet weather ; but when by accident or design a. person be precipitated into the water, the ascending water from beneath, coming in contact with the chemical, causes it to inflate, producing a bladder-like formation before and behind, capable of supporting the body in a very easy posture for fifty-five hours.
This test was made in Lake Ontario, opposite the Exhibition grounds, in the presence of officers of that institution and thousands of spectators, and proved entirely satisfactory. This was the first occasion on which the invention was tested in Canada, and the RIF. Powell Brown, M.A., of Sheffield, England, the inventor, has, by his ingenuity, well earned the distinction of the bronze medal from the Exhibition Committee of Toronto.